WEYMOUTH 6 HAVANT 4

WEYMOUTH head coach Sam Drewitt will demand further improvements from his side following Saturday’s 6-4 win over Havant.

With only eight minutes left, victory and second place in the league appeared to have slipped through the Seasiders’ grasp.

At 4-3 down against third-placed Havant, Weymouth required a cocktail of determination and skill, all served up by late goalscorers Matthew Underhill, Aaron Wilkinson and Luke Drewitt, to snatch the win from Havant in the cruellest of fashions.

Weymouth took an early lead at Redlands Community Sports Hub when, from the far left of the circle, Pat May’s solo effort screamed into the top-right corner of the Havant goal, taking the paintwork off the far post in the process.

Shortly after, the visitors hit back against the run of play via a penalty stroke awarded for an ‘off the feet’ tackle from Weymouth forward Luke Drewitt in the circle as he tried to make up for being caught in possession.

The umpire upheld the rules to the letter and Drewitt was punished with a yellow card and an early trip to the sin-bin.

With the player advantage, Havant secured a 2-1 lead through a slick short corner routine, swiftly slipping the ball into the net just below the crossbar and past keeper David Civil.

Before the end of the first period the home side suffered the loss of experienced central defender Dave Beaudro to injury. Despite a reshuffle to accommodate the personnel change, Weymouth regrouped and tied the score at 2-2 moments before the half-time break.

Dan Bowles, with another example of masterclass passing, picked out Underhill’s unnoticed incision into the danger zone and the latter neatly tucked the ball into the goal.

Nobody expected the second half to produce another six goals with four already on the scoreboard.

But on this occasion the fans were treated to a remarkable half which started with Weymouth stealing an advantage through short, sharp passing.

That resulted in Drewitt finding the backboard with a precise reverse stick strike through the parting Havant defence.

However, the advantage was short-lived as the visitors found their rhythm and pressured the Weymouth goal.

Roland Gill held strong in his new position in the centre of defence, but supremely skilful Havant forward Sandy Johnson managed to force several fouls in the circle to win a string of penalty corners and a two-minute sin bin for defender Gill.

The set-pieces were once again skilfully despatched to hand Havant a 4-3 lead.

Chances of a Weymouth win were looking slim with 70 minutes looming and with the side in front taking on a more defensive formation.

Perhaps the noticeable difference in fitness between the sides contributed to the final flurry of activity.

Weymouth hit back on 62 minutes with Underhill trickling his second of the game over the goalline.

With the visitors in disarray, Wilkinson found the winner on 67 minutes and the victory was then sealed with the final action of the game.

Right-back Simon Harvey, pressing high, nicked the ball from the Havant left-back and set up Luke Drewitt.

Drewitt, under pressure from defenders and the goalkeeper, managed to squeeze out a shot that trickled in off the back post.

That secured Weymouth a thrilling 6-4 victory.

Head coach Sam Drewitt said: “I am happy with the result but there are still areas where we have to be better.

“The guys played with a lot of character at times, which was important. “It was also good to see how the guys celebrated the win afterwards.

“We asked a lot of questions of them this weekend and we got a lot of answers back.”

The Seasiders are back in action this weekend when they travel to face Bournemouth on Saturday.